How to remove stubborn injectors?

I am trying to remove injectors on a 97 A3. I got one out. I cannot budge the other three. Actually, I budged one, until I realised I was starting to unscrew the top half of the injector from the bottom.

I think I may need something to eat the bond between the aluminum head and the steel injectors. Is there something like that on the market? Or is there a better way?

You have a PM.

There is a member here, Wingnut, who has come up with a sliding hammer design, where he can just screw a nut to the top of the injector, and use the sliding hammer to basically pull the injector out.

In my A3, I have been able to just wiggle the injector body while pulling up. I have heard that some have really struggled with the injectors. Wingnut worked for a number of hours just trying to get a single injector out of one car. That's why he made that hammer thing.

Maybe if you contact him, he can tell you how to make one, or if you can come to a GTG sometime, we can help you out. (but that might be too long a wait until the next one)

Ask and ye shall receive:


Glad it worked out for you. It has saved me hours of struggling and busted knuckles

Thanks Wingnut!

That's what I call Yankee engineering at it's finest (what do you call it up in the great white north?)

I can't really tell from looking at the picture, but I am guessing that on one end (left side of the picture) you have welded on a metric threaded rod or bolt which has a collar which screws onto the injector's fitting threads? What part did you use to accomplish this? Did you scavenge a fuel line nut off of something else and put it onto the bolt before welding it to the all-thread?

I had to resort to the slide hammer routine for the #3 injector. We had a horrible time getting it out even with the slide hammer.

Someone else had suggested loosening up the injector hold down bracket and then take the car for a brief drive. They said that will free up the stuck injector. I haven't tried it but it might be another solution.

I can't really tell from looking at the picture, but I am guessing that on one end (left side of the picture) you have welded on a metric threaded rod or bolt which has a collar which screws onto the injector's fitting threads? What part did you use to accomplish this? Did you scavenge a fuel line nut off of something else and put it onto the bolt before welding it to the all-thread?

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I used standard threaded rod for the shaft of the slide hammer since it is readilly available & cheap. The hammer part is just some pipe fittings that I also picked up at my local hardware store. I could have just used a piece of pipe, but thought the extra bulk from the fittings would add extra weight to increase the momentum. The end that screws onto the injector is a wheel stud & nut that screws onto the top of the injector. Fits nice & snug and 2 or 3 whacks and the injector just pops right out.

I have come accross many stuck injectors and this has never failed me. I made it after struggling with a #3 injector for over 2 hours last year. Now each injector only takes 5 seconds to pull out. I highly reccomend getting one of these. I showed it to Metalnerd at TDI Fest and he might be making a more professional looking one to offer the masses. Maybe contact him to see if he has made any progress.

DD's idea of loosening the hold down clamps does work sometimes, but we tried that on the injector I was stuck on last year and it did not work. For $10 worth of parts and a friendly welding shop can get you set up.

A-Ha! Wheel stud and nut. Very creative. Never would've guessed that the thread on that is the same as on an injector fitting.

I already have a couple of slide hammers, and a couple of welders, so if I can find the right threads I'm in business--my injectors have never been pulled in 8 years, so they're probably going to need some help coming out.

Ex-cellent! (tapping fingers together)

Thanks to all for the willingness to help. The injectors are out, thanks to Wingnut's slide hammer.
I can testify that it works well. Before the tool, with much force, penetrating oil and trying what I could, only one moved. These are 7- to 8-year injectors, like the previous poster's. I wouldn't say it took three slides to get them out; but they came eventually. Even with a good tool like Wingnut's, it can take a few minutes; but it's all you'll ever need, I am sure. I doubt any injectors could be more seized than mine were, and they came out.

I posted a similar problem awhile back and I too was able to get my stuck injector out with a slide hammer. Has anyone ever tried putting a little never-sieze on the injector bodies before installing them to make future removal easier?

I second this idea, but use it SPARINGLY. A little anti-sieze goes a long way! Also important to put a little on the bolt threads for the injector hold-down bracket, as some members here have had those bolts break off in the head.

I used it on the threads of my injectors on my Rabbit as well.

How does that work? Pulling up on the big fat slidy bit in the middle causes the shaft to rotate (thereby loosening the nut)? Or what?

no no...it's a force thing. Basically, you are doing the equivalent of hammering the injector out from inside the engine. Instead of 'pushing' with a hammer (obviously not something you can do), you are pulling with this device. You screw the end to the injector, and then in a couple of quick movements, you 'smack pull' the injector out. It's kinda like grabbing the injector and trying to pull it out in quick jerks. This device just puts more momentum into the movement, and gets the injector pulled faster.

BTW, Metalnerd now carries a pretty version of this device.
http://shop.metalnerd.com/index.cgi?code=3&cat=10

Anyone have one of these to lend? I've got 200k mile injectors that I will be pulling soon. I do not want to spend two hours on each one!!

So, the injectors on the AHU/1Z don't screw into the head like they do on the 1.6L engine in a Rabbit?

Nope...the injectors themselves just drop in. There is a retaining clamp which gets screwed into the head to hold the injectors in place...but the injectors themselves have no threading.

Toronto_Vento said:

Nope...the injectors themselves just drop in. There is a retaining clamp which gets screwed into the head to hold the injectors in place...but the injectors themselves have no threading.

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Ah, everything makes perfect sense now.